The First Strawberries
by Toast Monster
Summary: Tooru and Yuki return from the base, and some confessions are made. Cute, mostly fluff. Rated PG13 forlots of kissing. Generally closer to the mangaverse than the animeverse, but there are no spoilers. Yukiru. Please review if you like it!
1. Confessions

Tooru glanced at the tall youth beside her. His soft hair played in the breeze while a serene smile was settled on his delicate mouth. His quiet grey eyes met hers suddenly. "Honda-san, are you sure you can carry all of those by yourself?" Yuki asked.

"Yes! Souma-kun shouldn't worry so mu—!" Tooru tripped and struggled to hold onto the bundle of vegetables they had picked. Among the harvest were the first of the strawberries.

"Honda-san, let's sit down for a little while, okay?"

"Okay…" The two found part of a low wall to rest on. Tooru's eyes were troubled. Her usual vacant stare was replaced by one of confusion. The lithe body beside her turned, and she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. 'Ah! Souma-kun's hand is on my shoulder!!' Tooru thought desperately. Her face turned a cute shade of pink as she craned her neck to see Yuki's face. She had never seen him wear an expression like this before. One of… peace? No. Was it…?

"Honda-san. I don't want you to be bothered."

"Ah! No! I… I'm not bothered." The troubled expression returned to her face. 'Souma-kun has been so good to me. Souma-kun, Kyou-kun, even Shigure-san… They all… They've all helped me. They've helped me so much. It isn't right that I should feel this way for Souma-kun!' The hand shifted to reach its way over her back to her far shoulder, so that Yuki was almost cradling her with his arm. Almost. Tooru's face deepened to a pretty shade of crimson as she fought with the desire to lean into his arms.

"Are you alright? Tooru… kun."

"Ah! I'm fine! Souma-kun..." What was happening? Did Yuki just use her first name? "Souma-kun…"

"Tooru-kun, I think it's time." Yes. There was peace in Yuki's face. But… Something else, too.

Not for the first time that day, Tooru was puzzled.

"Tooru-kun, we have been living together for a long time. Most couples…"

"Souma-kun, are you saying…?" Tooru's eyes glistened and her blush deepened further.

"Tooru-kun, don't you think it's strange that a couple should live together for so long… without saying that they love each other?" Yuki tightened his grip on her shoulder, leaning in to rest his head on hers. His soft eyes were filled with something intense.

Tears welled in her big brown eyes, spilling over and running down her cheeks, falling one by one to dampen the skirt of her dress. "Thank you." She turned and embraced Yuki, fully aware of the consequences.

Bon!! Yuki landed softly in Tooru's lap, and even despite the fact he was now a mouse, there was nowhere else he would have preferred to be. Tooru picked him up, cradling him against her chest. "Thank you, Yuki-kun." A tear fell near his paw.

"Tooru-kun, I love you." Yuki felt himself pulled up to meet her face, and was cradled gently beside her cheek.

"Yuki-kun, thank you. I'm so happy here." Tooru placed him softly on the ground in front of her. She didn't think about this, but he could see right up her dress to the dainty white underwear she was wearing. Yuki's eyes widened and he blushed, and his body picked a rather inconvenient time for him to transform.

"Ah! H-Here are your clothes, Y-Yuki-kun…" She turned her face away from the perfect young male body in front of her.

"You know, Tooru-kun…" Yuki said thoughtfully as he pulled on his pants, "It… It doesn't really matter, anymore." An amused expression crept onto his face.

"P-Pardon?" Stammering, Tooru assumed that he was talking about his nudity.

"The curse." Tooru sighed in comprehension. "Lovers do not need to embrace one another to be in love."

'Lovers!? This day keeps getting more and more wonderful…' Tooru turned her head to look at him, parting her lips, and almost said something.

Yuki seized his opportunity and leaned forward, planting a gentle kiss on Tooru's soft, warm lips.

He pulled away gently to whisper, "Thank _you_, Tooru-kun." Their breath had a few seconds to mingle, while Yuki took in every detail of her perfect face. Tooru blushed, and looked down. Yuki caught her chin in his cool soft hand, and resumed the kiss. He pushed further, deepening the kiss and explored Tooru's neck with his hands. Tooru's face, which had showed so much emotion already today, flared red, and a passionate frown crept onto her brow as she surrendered herself entirely. She returned the kiss.

Yuki felt a hand snake its way around his waist, and another over his shoulders and through his hair. He pulled away to kiss her neck, and nuzzled into her nape, planting tender kisses every so often. He could smell her hair.

"Yuki… kun…" Liquid brown eyes found their way to meet his. "I… I love you, too."

Yuki let out a soft laugh, and smiled through the kisses. He stood up, pulling her with him, and kissed her deeply. "Tooru-kun, what about the strawberries?" he whispered tenderly into her ear. Tooru could tell he was smiling.

"Strawberries?"

"Yeah. I don't know if they'll make it home in this weather…" On anybody else, that would've been a smirk.

"Oh! Then we should hurry! Kyou-kun and Shigure-san will be getting worried now anyway, so—" Tooru was cut off by a swift pair of lips.

"I don't think we should go back just yet, do you?" Yuki smiled. "The sun's about to set. Let's go somewhere where we can watch it."

Tooru felt a hand slide protectively over hers, and the two walked towards home. "I'd suggest the roof, but I don't like heights, and that stupid cat's always there."

Tooru snapped out her quixotic daze just long enough to speak. "Ah! I know a place we can go. Follow me!" She beamed at being the one to think of something for a change. Clutching each other's hands, they walked slowly in the direction that Tooru was taking them.

Finally, they rounded a bend in the path, the babble of a stream apparent through the trees.

"Tooru-kun… this is where…?"

This time it was Tooru who began the kiss.


	2. A Sunset and a Strawberry

Welcome to the second chapter of my story! I'm sorry that there aren't any author's notes in the first chapter; I didn't have time to put them in! Anyway, here's the second instalment of what looks like will be a three-part story. Originally, I had planned on putting some smut in here, but I couldn't do it without seriously compromising the quality of the story. I'd hate to write something that's _completely_ out of character. I ended up changing the direction of this story, but I think it'll turn out better this way. I'm sorry to anyone who was hoping for smut! Maybe next time. Oh, and not that anyone has, but please don't attack me saying, "Tohru's eyes are blue!!!1!11" because I deliberately used the original manga character designs (i.e. Brown-eyed Tooru and grey-eyed Yuki.) So, that's about all I have to say here - I hope you enjoy it!!

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"Tooru-kun?" Yuki laughed as he followed her up, blushing more than a little.

"See? The sunset's perfect up here. I used to sit here sometimes, back when I was living in my tent." A soft expression came into her eyes, and her voice was dreamy as she spoke.

"Ah! Look at this mud! I don't want Tooru-kun's things to get to get dirty." Once again, Yuki wore a serenely happy smile, as he took off his coat and laid it down for them to sit.

Tooru blushed. "Oh! That's so kind of you! I didn't realise." 'Yuki took off his coat just so we could sit on it. How romantic! I wonder… How long has he wanted to do this?' Her eyes shone at the thought. 'The girls are right to call him a prince…'

"Now, Tooru-kun. How about those strawberries?" He reached into the basket and drew out a small, ripe strawberry.

"Ah! They look wonderful! Yuki-kun is really very good at—" She was, again, cut off mid-way.

Yuki held her face in his palm, and ended the kiss gently, still holding the berry in his other hand.

"…This kind of thing…" Tooru's thoughts suddenly snapped into focus as she realised what she had implied. "Oh! I mean…! Well…!" She started to giggle, and bowed her head. When she looked up, Yuki could see that her pretty face was tinted pink once more. "I mean… It's true for both..." She tilted her head, grinning.

They laughed together, as the sun crept down behind the distant horizon. Tooru looked over, and their gaze met. She leaned in, and kissed him lightly on the cheek, drawing back to take in his beautiful face.

Yuki was hit with a sudden wave of emptiness as soon as she moved away. He pulled her closer whispering, "Come back…" through lips that felt starved.

Tooru met his gaze, a little surprised at his desperate tone, and was stunned by his eyes. It was always so hard to tell what they were saying. Edging closer to him, she whispered his name. He caught her in one more deep, fervently passionate kiss, and before they knew it both were lying down, only just far enough apart that he wouldn't transform.

Suddenly, Yuki realised that he was still holding the strawberry (which had been forgotten in the flurry of teenage passion). He broke their kiss, and sat up, moving so that the prince was kneeling before his maiden. "I present to you an unworthy token of my affections. Please honour me by accepting my gift… Tooru-hime…" He kept his head bowed.

Tooru sat up, her lips bright and red from the previous moment's events, a flush lingering in the apples of her cheeks. "Eh?! Yuki-kun?" Tooru immediately remembered the ribbon in her hair. She smiled. "Thank you very much, kind prince. I accept your offer with gratitude." She giggled, holding a hand up to her face. She took the berry from him, and as her hand brushed his he scooped it into his own, flitted his lips over it.

Yuki looked up through sleek bangs to see her smiling down at him. Her sweet brown eyes were filled with a tender kind of happiness. He had seen this look a few times before. Never so intense, though. And never for him alone. This day had been filled with wonderful firsts…

As she lifted the fruit to her lips, Tooru remembered the time they'd planted them. It was after she'd come back to live with the Soumas. After that awful time full of doubt, and loss. She'd had such a wonderful feeling, planting them with him. So sure that everything would be okay. Knowing that now, there would be another chance. For… this.

Tooru took the plump little berry into her mouth. She smiled when she tasted its perfectly sweet flesh. "Thank you so much. …Yuki-miya…"

For the last time that night, Tooru rested her head on his shoulder, and stared out at the sun's blazing display. Yuki caught her in one final, intense kiss. Among all of the soft things that he found in Tooru, Yuki could taste strawberry.

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That's all for now! I hope you enjoyed chapter two! I know it's short, but that's sort of how I wanted it to be. Please leave a review if you liked it! Reviews are like candy. If candy made me write more, that is.

(In case you're wondering…

"-hime" Princess

"-miya" Prince

"-kun" Japanese honorific used when addressing friends.

I don't like using Japanese words in the things I write, but "Princess Tooru" sounded too American. I hope I didn't confuse anyone!)


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